


The Serenity Job

by ladybug218



Category: Firefly, Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 14:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybug218/pseuds/ladybug218
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>they steal from the rich to benefit the poor and downtrodden</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Serenity Job

**Author's Note:**

> written for a challenge at leverageland

Nate walked on to the bridge just in time to hear the tail end of a conversation between his second-in-command and his pilot.

“I want a real bath,” Amie was saying. 

Eliot smirked in response. “I have no real objections to that.”

“Sorry to butt in,” Nate said, rolling his eyes and trying to ignore the undercurrent of sexual tension. “But we won’t be staying on Persephone long enough for you to hire a room. We’re getting the shipment to Sterling, getting our money and getting the hell out of dodge.”

“Crew was lookin’ forward to a break, Captain,” Eliot said.

“That was before we had the Alliance on our tail,” Nate replied. “We’ll take a break when we get to Boros. Have you heard from Sophie?”

Amie shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Well, let her know that we aren’t sticking around long and if she wants to head on to Boros with us, she best be ready to go,” he instructed. “In the meantime, Eliot, quit flirting with your wife and go help Tara hide the cargo. I’m tasking Hardison with getting us some passengers to take along. Make us look more respectable.”

Eliot and Amie exchanged a look but Eliot left the bridge without saying anything. Nate knew the look meant that Eliot wanted to question his plans, but the two had worked together long enough that his second-in-command would never question him in front of someone else, even his own wife.

“What’s the ETA?” he asked his pilot.

“Thirty minutes if we don’t run into any other trouble,” Amie replied. 

“See that we don’t,” Nate instructed, turning to leave without waiting for a response.

*

“I love when we take on passengers,” Hardison said after receiving his instructions. “They all have stories to tell.”

“Well, you just don’t get so caught up listening to stories that you let my ship fall out of the sky,” Nate said. 

Hardison shook his head. “As if I would. This ship is my baby. I take good care of her. Speaking of which, we could use a new compression coil.”

Nate sighed. “Maybe we can look for one on Boros. Sterling should be paying us enough for this job to pick up some parts. Make a list of what you need.”

The young mechanic lit up like a kid on Christmas. “Thanks, Cap’n. And I’ll make sure to get us real good passengers.”

*

When the landed on Persephone, Hardison set a chair out in front of the ship in the hopes of attracting some paying passengers while Nate, Eliot and Tara headed off to meet Sterling. He was tinkering with an engine part when a tall man approached. “You takin’ on passengers?” the man asked.

“Yes, sir,” Hardison replied, wiping the grease off of his hand on his pants and holding it out to shake. “You lookin’ for a ride?”

“Matter of fact, I am. This looks like a good ship. Been a while since I saw a working Firefly class ship.”

Hardison smiled. “I work hard to keep her in the air,” he said. “She’s a good solid ship though. Won’t disappoint you.” He paused, sizing up the other man before continuing. “Noticed you checking out the ships rather than their destinations. Don’t you care where you’re goin’?”

The man laughed. “Not really, young man. I’m Shepherd Bonnano. I’ve been living at the Southdown Abbey for a while and I decided it’s time to get out in the world. Don’t much care where I go. The journey is more important than the destination. I have money though.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small wooden box. “Also have these.”

Hardison’s eyes widened when he lifted the lid of the box. “Welcome aboard, Shepherd. I’m Hardison and this beautiful girl here is Serenity.”

*

Nate knew immediately when they walked in to Sterling’s office that this deal wasn’t going to end well. “Well, if it isn’t Nathan Ford and his merry band of thieves,” Sterling said with a smirk. 

“Sterling,” Nate said, trying not to rise to the other man’s bait. “We have the goods.”

“Yes, I did hear something over the Cortex about the Alliance looking for a cargo ship that may have been involved in stealing some supplies from a base,” Sterling said. “You understand that I can’t take the risk of that theft being traced back to me.”

Eliot lifted an eyebrow at Nate and waited for his imperceptible nod before stepping forward. 

“We did the job, Sterling,” Nate said. “I’m expecting the payment we negotiated.”

“Our deal did not include having the Alliance breathing down our necks,” Sterling said.

Eliot took another step forward and was rewarded with Sterling’s men drawing guns on them. 

Tara and Nate drew their own guns in response, but they were outnumbered two to one by Sterling’s men. Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for someone to do something to break the standoff. After a minute, Nate lowered his gun. Tara followed suit and Eliot stepped back. “We’ll just take our business elsewhere,” Nate said.

Sterling’s men waited for the boss’s nod before lowering their own weapons. “I knew you’d see reason, Nathan. It was a pleasure seeing you, as always.”

Nate led his crew out without response. Once they were on the street, Eliot ran a hand through his hair and expelled a breath of frustration. “I could have taken those guys out, Nate.”

“I know. And it would have pissed Sterling off enough that he would have set the Alliance on our trail himself,” Nate replied.

“Where do we go next?” Tara asked. “We still need to get paid for the job.”

“Working on that,” Nate said.

*

They arrived back at the ship to find Hardison chatting with three passengers. “This here’s our Captain, Nathan Ford,” he said, stopping Nate while Eliot and Tara walked past without so much as a glance. “Cap’n, these are our new passengers: Colin Mason, Shepherd Bonnano and Doctor Maggie Collins.”

“Pleasure,” Nate said, tipping his hat and eying the clean-cut young woman with suspicion. “Don’t get many shepherds and doctors heading out to the black. Hope you folks understand what you’re getting yourselves in to.”

“Sometimes people need a change of scenery, Captain,” Bonnano said. “And people on border planets deserve to hear the good word as much as people from the core.”

“They also deserve medical attention,” Maggie added. “Don’t worry about us, Captain.”

Nate nodded and gestured for them to follow him on board. “Hardison will show you to your cabins and give you a tour of the common areas. I’d take it as a kindness if you didn’t come into the cargo bay unaccompanied.”

“Will we have access to our belongings?” Maggie asked, her hand touching the large crate she had brought with her.

“Yes, ma’am, but for safety reasons, I’d prefer you to come down here with a member of the crew,” Nate said. 

Before Hardison could lead the passengers out of the bay, Amie’s voice came over the intercom. “The ambassador has returned.”

Nate walked over and pushed a button. “Excellent, we’re all here. Take us out into the world.”

There was a jolt as the ship took off and everyone had regained their balance when a beautiful woman appeared on the walkway above the cargo bay.

“Ambassador, it’s good to have you back,” Nate said, his tone sardonic. 

The woman rolled her eyes and descended the stairs to the bay. “I see we’ve taken on some passengers, Nathan.”

Bonnano held out a hand. “Ambassador, it’s a pleasure.”

Nate laughed. “She’s a whore, preacher. “

She reacted as if she had been slapped. “I’m a registered companion,” she explained. “Nate thinks he’s clever by referring to me as an ambassador since my presence adds a certain respectability to the ship. Sophie Devereaux,” she introduced herself, taking the offered hand. 

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment but Hardison broke it. “Good to have you back, Sophie. If the rest of you would follow me, we’ll get you settled.”

*

Dinner went well and Nate was feeling pretty good about his decision to take on passengers. He was sitting with Eliot and Tara, discussing their options for unloading their cargo when Amie came on the intercom again. “Captain, you better get up here,” she said. The tone of her voice was enough of a clue that Nate knew there was trouble.

With Eliot and Tara following, he quickly made his way to the bridge. “What’s going on, Amie?”

“Someone sent a wave to the Alliance notifying them of our position,” she said. “I just intercepted a communication between two of the ships that are on their way.”

Nate swore. “Alter our flight path,” he said. “I’ll take care of this.

He stormed off towards the passenger dorms and found Bonnano and Maggie in the cargo bay with Hardison. “Which one of you tipped off the feds?” he demanded.

They all looked confused. “What are you talking about?” Hardison asked.

“One of our passengers sent a wave to the feds, telling them where we are. So which one of you is the mole?” he demanded again. “And what are you after?”

“Captain, perhaps you should take a few minutes to calm down so we can sort this all out,” Bonnano suggested.

Nate turned to accuse the shepherd of being the spy but noticed how nervous the doctor looked. “It was you,” he said, taking a step towards her. “I knew there was no good reason a woman like you would head out to the black.”

“Captain, you really ought to step back,” Bonnano said again. “Because it wasn’t the doctor.”

“That a confession?” Nate asked, turning his head to look at the preacher.

“No,” he replied, tipping his head to the other side of the bay where Mason stood aiming a gun at them.

“I sent the wave, Ford, and don’t even try to alter your course,” he said. “I have a tracking beacon on me. The Alliance will find you no matter where you go. You’re harboring a dangerous fugitive on this ship.”

The accusation caught Nate off guard. “I beg your pardon?”

Mason walked over to the group, his gun trained on Maggie. “Maggie Collins, you are hereby bound by law,” he said.

“Wait, you’re saying the doctor here is a fugitive?” Nate asked.

By this time, Eliot and Tara had joined the group in the bay. Sophie was standing on the walkway above, watching what was going on below. “Eliot, find out what she’s carrying,” Nate instructed.

“No!” Maggie shouted, trying to stop Eliot from opening her crate and being stopped by Tara. “Don’t open that!”

“Open it,” Nate said.

Eliot did and jumped back in shock when he saw the naked young woman inside. “What the…?” He didn’t get the entire question out before the young woman bounced up and screamed.

Maggie broke out of Tara’s grip and ran over to the girl. “Parker,” she said, trying to get the girl to focus on her. “Parker, it’s me, Maggie.”

The girl blinked a few times before she stopped looking for an escape route. “Maggie?” she repeated weakly.

“Yes, honey. It’s me. You’re safe here.” Maggie said.

The younger girl wrapped her arms around Maggie. “It was so bad,” she muttered.

“I know, I know.”

“Doc, I think you have a lot of explaining to do,” Nate said.


End file.
